Day 8: Kayenta, AZ to Farmington, NM
Strava Link: Petoji Day 8
Day 8 was mostly flat, but there were always some interesting rock formations off in the distance to look at that kept the scenery interesting. I made it to New Mexico, the 5th state of Petoji, about 75 miles into the ride. I was actually very close to Four Corners at that point.
Somewhere close to the border I got a flat tire. Throughout Petoji I carried 2 extra tubes and a Park Tool Super Patch Kit. If you're not familiar with those, they are glueless patches. I've used them in the past and I've had good luck with them. They're not a permanent solution (they'll eventually fail), but in my experience they've been good for at least a couple of weeks. I figured they were a good solution for Petoji. They were light, didn't take up much space, and I could use them in a pinch and they would get me through to the next town or my next general delivery package.
This was my 3rd flat of Petoji, so it was time to start using the patches. My luck was terrible with flat tires so far. It seems like I never get a flat at home in Reno except for the occasional goat head. Now all of the sudden I had 3 flats in a week. Go figure. Anyway, I patched up the tube and went on my way.
A few minutes later it started raining. The rain started slowly at first, and then it started pouring. It poured for probably 5-10 minutes, and then the rain stopped. All of the sudden I was wet and cold. It's amazing how quickly the temperatures can drop in a storm like that. I'm probably lucky I didn't get hailed on. I started to warm up a little and then I noticed that my tire was getting low again. Damn.
There was a little gas station up ahead, so I went ahead and stopped there to fix it. As luck would have it, light rain started to fall again. Fixing a flat is annoying enough, but add rain to that and you have a recipe for serious frustration. I was expecting another puncture on the same tube, but it turns out that my Park patch had failed. What was going on? I had never had one fail like that so soon. I was starting to worry now. I had already gone through my two tubes and the patches were all I had left. What if I got a bad batch or something and all of them started to fail? I was still about 55 miles away from Farmington. Were flat tires going to be the end of me? Here it was Day 8 and I was starting to believe that I could finish Petoji.
The second patch ended up making it all the way to Farmington. I wasn't crazy about Farmington, but the good news was that it did have a bike shop. The bad news was that I rolled into town after it was closed and it didn't open until late the following morning. As luck would have it, I saw a Big 5 Sporting Goods store along the way on my walk to dinner. I stopped in there and they had 3 tubes in the correct size. I bought them all.
On a ride like Petoji there are a few naysayers and/or worrywarts out there. One of their main concerns is traffic. How can you be safe out there riding in the traffic? People don't pay attention, they drive like jerks, etc. Surely I was going to die. I must have been lucky. I don't remember any close calls throughout my whole 23-day, 3,000-mile trip. In fact, the closest I came to death was that night in Farmington as I was walking back to the hotel. I was in the crosswalk and I had my "Walk" signal. There was a truck across the street in the left turn lane. I started walking, keeping my eye on the truck. It was moving, but very slowly and I figured it was just one of those impatient people who can't sit still. Nope. The truck sped up right towards me and I had to jump back on the sidewalk behind me. OK, whatever. I guess he didn't see me, despite the fact that I was wearing my hi-viz bike jacket. But here comes the part that really pissed me off. There was a cop right behind him! Did the cop pull him over and say, "Hey, dipshit, you might not want to kill pedestrians"? Nope. The cop did nothing. Here in Nevada pedestrian safety is a big concern and there are these huge flashing lights and neon signs in a lot of places. At times it seems like overkill, but I can appreciate it now. I do feel like people around here are more aware of pedestrians than they are in some of the other states I visited along the way.
